the hawkmoth's (utterly ridiculous) new cocoon
by zedille
Summary: Hawkmoth, sorry, 'Scarlet Hawkmoth,' faces the first bump in his grand plan: he forgot to come up with a properly original villainous alter ego for his powered-up self. Catalyst is not helpful. (during s2e24 'Catalyst')


I had all these thoughts and fic notes after the s2 season finale, then s3 came along... ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

First ML fic; still working out my Gabriel narrative voice. A commentary about:

1) Hawkmoth's sense of aesthetics, or lack thereof  
2) Catalyst's very extra lines (some of which I've quoted), especially given  
3) the delivery of the French VA on those very extra lines

* * *

"From this moment forth, you will be the all-powerful SCARLET HAWKMOTH."

It was at this point that Hawkmoth (well, Scarlet Hawkmoth now) realized he had made a mistake.

But it was too late to stop the process: the wave of magic was already descending from his hood and washing down his body. As Hawkmoth knew well, akuma transformations were sealed by the villain's new name, and it was impossible to resist an akuma once the initial connection was made. This had worked to his advantage scores of times previously when akumatizing Parisians, but now he was helpless to prevent the transformation washing over him. When he akumatized himself into the Collector, he had known what he would end up as; this time —

Hawkmoth examined himself as the magic faded, but there was nothing new to find. As the name _Scarlet Hawkmoth_ implied, he was still wearing his usual costume, just in scarlet. The red was most pronounced in his cowl, cane, and brooch; his jacket and gloves were merely tinted, with the underlying color still visible.

He could feel the power coursing through him, waiting to be redirected through the butterflies on the floor — that part of the transformation had worked properly — but really, what was this _outfit_? He and Nathalie had gone over every aspect of the plan in excruciating detail, multiple times. How had he managed to forgot to come up with a properly intimidating alter ego for himself? As a fashion designer, he relied on the power of appearances even more than most supervillains. He could hardly hold Nathalie to the same standards he applied to his regular akumas, but this was just unacceptably lazy.

"Is something wrong, sir," said Catalyst. Nathalie's familiar deadpan sounded very strange coming from the akumatized figure.

"'Scarlet Hawkmoth', _really_?" said Hawkmoth. "You couldn't have come up with anything better?"

"Do you have any ideas? Multiple Hawkmoth, perhaps? Or if you wanted to continue the insectoid theme — Hawkspider? Hawkmillipede? Hawkworm?"

"… what?! None of those are even insects!" he spluttered. "I can at least see where spiders and millipedes are coming from, but what do worms have to do with anything?"

"Earthworms regenerate when you cut them in two, don't they?"

With considerable difficulty, Hawkmoth prevented himself from launching into a lecture about the biology of different earthworm species, though he did make a mental note to buy Nathalie some biology textbooks. "I hardly see how that's relevant, unless you intended that I physically replicate myself to utilize my new powerset."

"Oh, I know," said Catalyst. In anyone else, her tone might been considered gleeful. "I should have named you Hawktopus."

Hawkmoth, confronted with the inner workings of his assistant's overly linear thought processes, was forced to accept that perhaps "Scarlet Hawkmoth" was the best out of a bad lot. "But why scarlet?" he said plaintively. "That's Ladybug's color — _I'm ripping off Ladybug!_ "

"You usually wear red trousers," said Catalyst flatly. "And I was just following the cues you left me in my transformation."

"I was trying to acknowledge your usual look!" Hawkmoth had wanted to make sure Nathalie was as comfortable as possible in her transformed self, so he'd avoided any radical alterations in size or form (one possessed teddy bear was quite enough, thank you, and Nathalie would never forgive him if she ended up anything like that pigeon akuma). Aside from the visor and exaggerated collar, Catalyst's ensemble overall was clearly inspired from the business/workwear pantsuits that Nathalie usually wore.

"And here I was thinking you'd just reused your own akumatized form, what with the jumpsuit and red goggles and that absurd collar. And are these _shoulder pads_? I thought you said you wouldn't be caught dead using shoulder pads again."

"If any of my designers dared turn this design in, they would be fired immediately!" Hawkmoth spluttered. He had, in fact, dedicated quite some time to working on this transformation.

"I'm not one of your designers, and you did not hire me for my creativity. I work with what I've got," said Catalyst, somehow managing to imply that this was all Hawkmoth's fault.

Never mind the lepidopterology, he was going to sign Nathalie up for a basic fashion design course after they saw this through. How could such a travesty be associated with the Gabriel label?

"I think I need a redo," said Hawkmoth. "Clearly I should have given you the power to think up a really innovative akuma name and aesthetic."

He would never admit to having made any mistakes with his original costume, but one might say that there were some things he could change if he could (if he could trust Nooroo not to sabotage or deliberately misinterpret his intentions, really). A side benefit of his grand plan was that he would have a new and improved look for his ultimate moment of victory.

"I said I was willing to do anything to help bring down Ladybug and Chat Noir. Soothing your vanity is not part of that," Catalyst said pointedly.

Right, the akuma connection went both ways. Hawkmoth could sense Catalyst's growing irritation, and she could hear, if not the exact details, the general subject of his inner monologue. When his akumatized villains balked, Hawkmoth usually spouted something along the lines of "I gave you this power _and I can take it away too_ ," but that hardly applied in this case. There would be no plan without the boost from Catalyst's power.

"Yes, yes, you gave me this power so we could defeat Ladybug and Chat Noir and take their Miraculouses, et cetera," said Catalyst, picking up his train of thought. "Now let's _get on with it_ before the real Ladybug shows up."

Hawkmoth considered forcing the point, but judging from the way Catalyst was tapping her stiletto-clad foot, there was a significant chance that if he did force a redo, he would end up as Hawktopus (or worse), even if he did prepare some other villainous alter ego. Seen in that light, Scarlet Hawkmoth really wasn't that bad.

"Fine," said Scarlet Hawkmoth. "But can't you be more enthusiastic about this whole business? You know how sensitive I am to emotions, and you're throwing me off."

Catalyst stared at him. Hawkmoth didn't need the powers of the Butterfly Miraculous to detect her irritation.

He cleared his throat pointedly.

"… the time has come. You're about to triumph at last," said Catalyst, her expressionless tone of voice entirely at odds with the drama of the words themselves.

"Come on, a little more energy…?"

Catalyst's visor concealed it, but somehow Hawkmoth was sure she was rolling her eyes in there. "Nothing is more delightful than leading them to believe that they actually have a chance of winning, when the future has already been decided."

Hawkmoth winced. This was probably the best he was going to get out of Catalyst — she could come up with the sorts of things he said typically, but from her delivery, she might as well have been reading out his schedule for the day. Clearly, the skillsets of a personal assistant and villainous assistant did not necessarily overlap.

After a few preparatory pirouettes, he twirled his cane to begin transmuting the silver butterflies around him. As the power coursed through him, he felt himself returning to his usual villainous mood. But there was one lingering thought:

If he couldn't rely on Catalyst to contribute her share of the mood… Hawkmoth would have to carry out the plan with _even more_ flair and drama. Ladybug and her pathetic friends wouldn't know what hit them.

* * *

after the episode...

GABRIEL: Did you hear what that Bourgeois girl said about my costume? She called it "utterly ridiculous"!  
NATHALIE: The only thing I changed about your costume was the color. So don't blame me.  
GABRIEL: ...


End file.
